In my darkest hour
by JeanyQueen
Summary: Set after Season 2. Felicity got a new Boss, he isn t a nice guy. Can Oliver help her and can Felicity fight long enough against her Boss to get QC back to Oliver?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone, new story for you ;) hope you like it. **

**Again thanks to the awesome niagaraweasel for translate.**

The fight against Slade and his army was won, although it had been hard and they had lost so much. Sara had left with Nyssa. Thea had disappeared without a trace, which had turned Oliver into a wreck. Roy had left the team to search for Thea and Laurel had left with Sara and Nyssa to learn how to fight. Oliver was almost broke. QC no longer belonged to him, together with the club and the Queen mansion. Based on Walter's recommendations Oliver had made some money with investments, which he had used to buy a small house. Since with the loss of Verdant, the secret Arrow lair was also unavailable, the cellar of Oliver's new home served as temporary headquarters. Diggle had taken a new job as head of security for the new mayor of Starling City.

Felicity had gotten an offer to keep working as EA for the new CEO of QC. She hated the new boss. He was a slimy bootlicker, who caused an icy shiver to run down her spine every time he said her name. She had thought about turning down the job offer, but then it had occurred to her that this might be the only way to get QC back into Oliver's hands. She had deleted her employment file before the new boss had interviewed all employees, so he had no idea about her IT knowledge.

So for the last two months Felicity had been working for Daniel Miller – and hated it more and more each day. He treated her like his personal property, dressed her down in front of clients, even when it wasn't her fault and he got grabby when they were alone in the office.

With Oliver as CEO the office had been one of Felicity's favorite places to be, now it was a struggle for her to get up in the morning and go to work. She had tried to change the way she dressed, but when she had worn pants one morning, Miller had given her a warning letter for improper business attire. But she could take a lot and the thought of getting Oliver back as her boss helped her to get through each day.

Oliver and Diggle had no idea about any of this, since they had enough problems of their own. After the attack of Slade's army Starling City had become even more unsafe than after the disaster in the Glades. Nobody trusted anybody anymore, the crime rate was up by 20%, gun shops sprouted up at every corner and every self defence class was crowded, making Oliver's job all that much more difficult, especially coupled with his worries about Thea. There was no time for the problems of a blonde IT girl.

Diggle wasn't much better off. He had surprisingly found himself the father of a six-year-old boy, whose existence his ex-wife Lyla had kept a secret from him, and now he had to try and build a father-son-relationship between himself and Bryan.

Felicity checked her reflection in the mirror of the elevator taking her up to the executive floor. Soe wore a buttoned-up blouse and a pencil skirt. Her hair was pulled back into a bun, since Miller thought that would be a more professional look. All female employees at QC had to wear the same hairstyle. When the elevator door opened, Felicity took a deep breath. Just another day to survive and maybe it would bring some useful information. The things she had put together already weren't enough yet to get QC away from Daniel Miller. Shortly before Slade's takeover, Felicity had managed to divert a part of QC's profit and had asked Walter Steele to invest it lucratively. Walter had been astonished at the sum of 400.000 $, but Felicity had lied and told him something about an inheritance. Yes, she knew that it was a fraud, but she had foreseen Oliver's ruin and she hadn't wanted him to end up completely pennyless. For a former billionaire, 400.000 $ weren't all that much, but it was a start, especially since it had grown to just about 1 million. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough yet to buy back a company like QC. Right now the price for QC counted in the billions, but Felicity was prepared to find even the smallest loop-hole to get enough money for Oliver to get back into QC.

Daniel Miller was at his desk when Felicity came into the office. She regarded him for a moment; he wasn't bad looking and had definitely no problems winning women over. He was tall, well-built and tanned, with blond hair and a toothpaste-commercial smile. A cold shiver raced down Felicity's spine every time he looked at her. With a wave of his fingers he beckoned her into his office. Felicity's hands started to cramp. Reluctantly she got up and went over, forcing a smile onto her face.

"Mr. Miller, what can I do for you?"

Miller looked her up and down. "Nice outfit you're wearing today, Ms Smoak, but a little to buttoned-up for my taste," he said, getting up and coming closer to her. Felicity swallowed hard when his hands worked on the top two buttons of her blouse. Once he had opened them, Miller took a step back and regarded her again. "That's much better. Now we can talk about the meetings for today. Oh, and I also need you to accompany me to a function this evening."

Felicity looked at him disbelievingly. ""Mr. Miller, that's not possible, I already have plans for this evening."

Abruptly, Miller's expression darkened and he took a step closer. "Ms. Smoak, I think you are not aware just how many women in this company would be more than happy to have your job. So you'd better cancel your plans and be at my side for this function. I know that you have performed this service for Mr. Queen more than once."

"Yes, Mr. Miller," Felicity replied through clenched teeth.

A smile appeared on Miller's lips and his hand wandered to her cheek. "Good. I'm glad that I have such a loyal and beautiful assistant. You may go now – oh, and don't forget my coffee."

Felicity nodded silently and left the office.

Her heart was hammering as she leaned against the closed stall door in the ladies restroom – the only place where she felt safe. _Come on, Felicity, you're doing this for Oliver, just stay strong, it's not that bad_, she told herself, suppressing the wave of nausea that rose in her throat when she remembered how Miller had unbuttoned her blouse.

The remainder of the morning was quiet. Three meetings were scheduled, but she was needed for only one of them, so she had enough time to concentrate on her research. QC's revenues had gone down drastically during the last month, although the level of incoming orders had remained the same. Felicity plugged in her USB drive and transferred the information to it, so that she could take a closer look at home.

A look at her watch told her that it was time for her lunch break. Diggle would be here to pick her up any minute. Felicity got up, buttoned her blouse again and slipped into her jacket.

"Felicity, what do you think you're doing?" she heard a voice that once again sent a shiver through her body and made her freeze.

"Did I give you permission to close those buttons again?"

Felicity shook her head, unable to say anything.

"In that case it shouldn't be a problem to open them again," Miller said with a lascivious look.

With trembling hands Felicity reached for the first button.

"Can I help you?" Miller's voice came again, this time much friendlier and almost smarmy.

"I have an appointment with Ms Smoak."

Felicity turned around and found Diggle glaring at Miller. Miller nodded and looked over to Felicity.

"Ms Smoak, I expect you back here in exactly one hour, not a minute later. We have a couple of important meetings this afternoon."

"Yes, Mr. Miller."

Diggle placed a hand protectively on Felicity's back before turning around to Daniel Miller again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow thanks for all the wonderful reviews, for follow and favorit, so happy you like it. **

**Thanks to Niagaraweasel for translate, you are the best. **

**So here is Chapter 2, after all my storys it was weird to write 2 Chapters without Oliver ;) but I´m a shipper, so no panic Olicity is endgame **

**Have fun and review **

When the elevator doors closed behind them, Felicity let out a deep breath. Diggle watched her silently. She could feel the rage boiling inside of him, knowing how much it took for their friend to get to that point.

"John…" she began, almost feeling ashamed for the words she was about to say, "it isn't like you think it is."

Diggle shook his head, grinning slightly. "Felicity, what else could it be? What I saw is called sexual harassment on the job. What's there to misunderstand?"

He was right, she knew it and under different circumstances she wouldn't put up with it, but she didn't see a choice.

"It's not that bad," she said, not daring to look at Diggle.

"Not that bad? Well, it looked pretty bad to me. Felicity, you're a proud woman, you could have twenty other jobs, where you wouldn't be treated like that. Was that the first time?"

"For something like that, yes, but remarks and touches, that started four weeks ago."

Diggle hissed angrily. "What did I train with you for? You could easily take that guy down."

Felicity nervously played with her fingers. "It's not that easy. Let's go to lunch and I'll explain everything."

Diggle nodded.

They had decided on Big Belly Burger and were sitting at a table by the window. Diggle watched Felicity with an eagle eye, and the IT girl knew he was waiting for her to start explaining.

She put her burger back down on the plate. "Shortly before Isabel Rochev took over QC, I transferred 400.000 $ into my account. I had a feeling that things wouldn't go well and I was right about that. I put the money into Walter's bank for Oliver. He's taking care of it for me and by now the 400.000 $ have become 1 million."

Diggle looked at her incredulously. No matter how well he thought he knew her, Felicity always managed to surprise him.

"I only took the job so Oliver can get the company back. Daniel Miller thinks I'm just a normal assistant. I changed my employee file completely when I heard that QC will get a new CEO. All of my former colleagues from the IT department have been fired, so there's no one who could rat me out. It's the only way to get information which might help Oliver to get the company back. Hopefully the money will soon be enough for him to buy into QC."

A smile appeared on Diggle's lips. That was so like Felicity. She loved Oliver more than anything, she would walk through fire for him without question. He reached for her hand. "Felicity, that doesn't change the fact that Miller is harassing you."

"I know, but it explains why I keep silent about it. QC's profits have gone down by 50 % in the last month, although we haven't lost any customers and the revenue was the same as last month."

"Felicity, that's all well and good and it honors you that you are doing all this for Oliver, but this is about you. This guy is harassing you. What I saw may be harmless in your eyes, but not for me. And if you call that harmless, I don't want to know what else has happened."

Felicity dunked a fry into the ketchup. "It's really not that bad."

"Felicity, look at me," her friend said, waiting until she raised her eyes. "Do you really think Oliver will be okay with a sleazy creep like that touching and harassing you, just so he can get his company back?"

"I'm…."

"Don't say that you're just a good friend for him, Felicity. We both know that that's not true and that Oliver feels a lot more for you, but right now he's too stubborn to admit it even to himself. And we also know that you love him and would give your life for him, but that's a price Oliver would never expect you to pay. If he knew about this, he would beat himself up over it."

"Dig, I promise I'll be careful and I'll see to it that Miller doesn't get too close again, but please promise you won't tell Oliver about it. I swear the moment I have something tangible on Miller, I'll slap his face and give him a kick where it really hurts."

"Felicity, I really care about you, you're a part of the family and I don't want anyone to treat you like that. You don't deserve that, you're an intelligent, brave and strong woman."

Tears started to pool in Felicity's eyes. "Thanks, John, no one has ever told me that."

"Well, then it was high time for it. And now finish your lunch, you don't want to be back late."

"Does that mean you won't say anything?"

"From now on I'll pick you up for every lunch break and after work as well. If Miller asks who I am, tell him who I work for. Keep as far away from him as you can and remember Oliver would never forgive himself if something happened to you."

Felicity nodded. "Thanks, John. Oliver has saved my life so many times, I'm glad that I can do something for him for a change."

"Felicity, if that's the reason, I can only say that you saved Oliver's life more than once, so that makes you even. When will you come over this evening? Bryan can't wait to play Super Mario with you, he wants to show you that he has mastered the two difficult levels."

A smile appeared on Diggle's lips whenever he talked about his son. They had known each other for only two months, but after a rocky start they had pretty quickly forged a connection. Lyla had told her son that his father had been head of security for important diplomats and therefore never at home. For Christmas and birthdays she had sent him a present by post to show him that his father was always thinking of him.

"I can't come, Miller wants me to go to a gala with him tonight. I told him I have other plans, but he threatened to fire my if I don't go."

Diggle's expression suddenly turned serious again. "I want you to keep me informed. If he becomes too pushy, I'll personally get you out of there, do you understand? And I demand that you take your own car there and home again, no matter what he says."

"You sound like the father I never had, Dig."

Diggle grimaced. "Let's say the brother, that doesn't make me feel quite so old."

"Okay, then the brother I never had," Felicity said, smiling at Diggle.

It had felt good to finally tell someone about the matter, even if she hadn't told him the whole truth about Miller's actions. She felt terrible every time Miller's hands landed on her body or he even looked at her. Every day she hoped to be able to expose him, so that the ordeal was over and she could finally work with Oliver again.


	3. Chapter 3

**WOW thanks for all the nice reviews and for follow and favorite this story. **

**But you couldn`t read this story without niagaraweasel, she´s the one who translate every chapter from german in english. THANKS so much for all your work. **

**Have fun with the next Chapter and don`t forget to review**

Oliver was looking forward to spending the evening with Lyla, Diggle and Bryan. It was a welcome reprieve from everything that had happened in the last couple of weeks. His workload as the Arrow had increased rapidly. The city was filled with people taking the law into their own hands. The attack of Slade's army had left them afraid and more than ready to react violently to the slightest provocation. Oliver hardly had time to take a deep breath and concentrate on important private matters like Thea or his friends.

Roy kept him in the loop as far as Thea was concerned. His sister had left the city, sending a last text message that she was safe, but she hadn't mentioned where she was and they hadn't heard anything from her in the last two months. With Felicity's help, Roy had found where the text message had been sent from and was on his way to find the love of his life.

Oliver's contact to his friends had suffered too. Yes, they were still working together, but lunches or dinners together had become a rarity. It had been much easier when they had all been together practically night and day. Now Diggle spent a lot of time with his new family and Felicity seemed very withdrawn and distracted. Oliver had planned to talk to her about that, but there never seemed to be an opportunity for it. Tonight, however, he would grab the chance; he would forget about the city for one night and just enjoy spending time with his friends.

The ex-CEO knocked on his friend's door. It took less than two minutes for Bryan to open and greet him with a big smile. "Uncle Oliver, finally!"

Oliver ruffled the "mini Diggle's" hair. "Hey, pal, it's good to see you."

John appeared at the door and clapped a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Good to have you here, com in."

Oliver went through into the living room and looked around. Strange, Felicity wasn't here yet, usually she was the first to arrive. "Wow, I managed to get here before Felicity. I should mark that day in my calendar."

Diggle grimaced. "Felicity isn't coming. She has to accompany her new boss to a gala."

Oliver tried to appear unaffected, but the information hit him like a fist. His PA, his Felicity had replaced him with another boss just like that. "I guess money really does make a man attractive."

John looked at him with a shocked expression. Did Oliver really think that Felicity accompanied Daniel Miller just because he owned QC now and had more money? "Oliver, you can't be serious. Do you really think that Felicity can be bought like that? You should know her better than that."

Oliver sat down on the sofa and scrubbed his hands across his face. "Diggle, I don't know what to think anymore. Work is eating me alive and my money won't last longer than a few months. I hardly ever get the chance anymore to talk to you or Felicity privately. She seems to have changed a lot in the last few weeks. I wanted to ask her about that tonight and now you're telling me she won't be coming, because she goes to a gala with the new CEO of QC. What else am I supposed to think but that she has an affair with him?"

Diggle sat down beside his friend. "Oliver, if there's one thing I'm absolutely sure about, it's that Felicity definitely doesn't have an affair with Daniel Miller. There's only one man she would walk through fire for and that's you. How often does she have to prove that to you?"

"Then why did she take that job instead of going somewhere else? QC was _our_ job, it's _our_ past that has been stolen from me. How can she keep working there and just replace me?"

Oliver was asking understandable questions there and Diggle would have liked nothing better than o answer them, but he had promised Felicity that he wouldn't say anything. If only Oliver knew that she was doing it all for him, to find a way for him to get his company back.

"You should talk to Felicity. Believe me, it will make things a lot clearer."

Oliver looked at his friend. "You know what's wrong with her, don't you?"

Diggle grimaced.

"What is it?"

"Oliver, I promised not to say anything, you need to ask her yourself and even then it's up to Felicity to tell you everything. All I can say is that the woman loves you and will do anything for you and it's high time for you to realize that."

"I love her too. When I told her that, it wasn't an act, Slade really had the wrong woman. But what do I have to offer her? I'll only put her in danger and I don't have money anymore either."

The bodyguard shook his head. "Do you really think she's interested in your money? Oliver, you could be living under a bridge and she would still love you."

"How can she love someone who handed her over on a silver platter to save another woman?"

"Because she trusts you and she knows that nothing can happen to her as long as you are close."

Oliver looked down at the floor. How could Felicity still have so much hope and trust in him after all that had happened? She was simply incredible and she was the one Sara had talked about; the light he needed so he wouldn't drown in the darkness.

"I'll have lunch with Felicity tomorrow, why don't you join us?" Diggle suggested.

"That's a good idea."

At that moment Lyla and Bryan came out of the kitchen with the food and plates.

"Dinner is ready and I helped Mom with it", the young boy said proudly.

"He did a very good job with the vegetables," Lyla confirmed, equally proudly, as she came over to welcome Oliver. "Good to have you here, Oliver." She hugged her husband's friend and Oliver returned the hug. "Thanks, Lyla, I'm glad you invited me."

"Don't be too glad about it, Bryan already has a lot of plans for you tonight. Once he heard that his Super Mario partner won't be coming, he decided he wants to practice with you and John after dinner."

Oliver laughed. "That can be arranged."

"I thought so, you just can't say no to him."

"Well, he is a wonderful boy."

"Yes, he is, just like his dad." Lyla looked over to her husband and son. Bryan sat beside his father on the couch, leaning against his shoulder. John was stroking his hair and explaining why the Arrow was real while Spiderman was just a character in a comic book. It was nice to see the two of them so close. she had been afraid that Bryan wouldn't give his father a chance and she was glad that that fear had turned out to be unfounded.

"Hey, you two, you can continue your superhero discussion later, the food is getting cold."

John and Bryan got up and joined Lyla and Oliver at the table.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks so much for all your Reviews so happy you like the Story**

**Thanks to Niagaraweasel for translate, you are the best. **

With an uneasy feeling Felicity drove to the gala – as promised in her own car. Daniel Miller had wanted them to arrive together, but she had managed to find an excuse.

How much she would have loved to spend the evening with her friends instead. In the last few weeks she hadn't had a chance to spend much time with Oliver. She missed him and her heart ached at the fact that she could only work half the day with him.

Felicity straightened her long black evening dress before entering the gala. Daniel Miller stood at the entrance, talking to three women. As soon as he spotted her, he turned away from them and came over.

"Felicity, good that you're here, you look incredible," he said, her fingers stroking the skin showing in the neckline of her dress. Felicity pressed her lips together at the unwanted contact. Miller placed his hand on her back and led her into the room. The IT girl looked around and spotted an old business acquaintance of Oliver's, Thomas Andrews of Andrews & Partners, who walked straight over to her.

"Ms. Smoak, how nice to see you here," the elderly man said with a friendly smile.

"I'm glad to see you too, Mr. Andrews," Felicity answered.

"How is Oliver? It's a pity things turned out the way they did. He was a very good CEO and he had the perfect assistant in you."

"Thanks, Mr. Andrews, I'm honored to her that. Unfortunately I cannot tell you how Oliver is doing. I haven't seen him for a while." Felicity hated having to lie, but Daniel Miller couldn't find out that she was still in contact with Oliver; that would have raised far too many questions.

Daniel Miller watched Andrews with an eagle eye, clearly displeased that he showed so much interest in Felicity.

"Ms. Smoak is working for me now, Mr. Andrews, and I am glad that Mr. Queen agreed to let me have his incredible assistant," Miller said in a much too friendly tone, trying to divert the attention back to himself. "Please excuse us now, Felicity and I would like to get something to drink."

Miller pushed the blonde roughly towards the bar. "Felicity, I hope you know that I don't tolerate this kind of behavior."

Felicity gave her boss a concerned and slightly frightened look. "Mr. Miller, I'm your employee, not your property. Who I talk to and how friendly I am is still up to me."

Miller roughly grabbed her wrist and Felicity winced the immediate burning sensation created by the tight grip. "You're hurting me."

"I don't like to be contradicted, Felicity, do you understand?"

"Yes, I do," Felicity answered with a pained grimace.

The CEO let go of her wrist and put his hand on her hip instead. "Good. And now you'd better go home. I see a couple of ladies who have more to offer than you do. I'll see you tomorrow."

Felicity didn't answer. As if in a trance she left the building and got into her Mini Cooper, her body all but collapsing behind the wheel, tears running down her face. It was just too much, she had tried to be strong, telling herself over and over that she was doing it all for Oliver, the man she loved, but it was _so_ difficult. Miller disgusted her and his attacks became increasingly aggressive. She looked down at her wrist, where a bruise was already beginning to show. Wiping the tears off her face, she started the car. She needed to check the data on her thumb drive as quickly as possible. The sooner she found a solution, the sooner she could get rid of Miller and his unwelcome advances.

As soon as she arrived, the IT girl sent a text message to Diggle, letting him know that she was safely home, leaving out the incident with Miller. Otherwise Diggle would be at her door in five minutes tops.

She took off her dress and jumped into the shower. It had become a ritual since she had started working for Miller, she couldn't stand the thought of his touches. The hot water washed away any thoughts of the man and cleared her mind. The perfect time to go through the documents on her thumb drive.

Felicity climbed into her bed, powered up the laptop and connected the USB stick. For the next couple of hours she went through every file, looking for any kind of clue or error somewhere, but everything seemed to be okay. "Damn," she cursed angrily. She had been so sure that she would finally find something, but each and every document she had checked had been clean – and yet the money was missing.

She had to find a solution. QC belonged to Oliver and he had to get it back, no matter how. But she asked herself how long she would still be able to keep her distance from Miller. Up to now it had only been words or casual touches. Today he had gone much farther and tonight he had actually hurt her. His words still echoed through Felicity's mind. Taking off her glasses and pinching the bridge of her nose, she closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on something else. She definitely needed to get some sleep, it was already 3 o'clock and in less than three hours she would have to get up again, but she was just too shaken.

Oh, how much she would have loved to be with John and Lyla tonight…she had been so glad about the invitation. With Oliver no longer CEO they only saw each other at night, and then he was on patrol most of the time. There was no time to talk. On the one hand, Felicity was glad about that, since it saved her from Oliver's questions, but on the other hand she could really do with someone to lean on right now. She knew that Diggle was right, one word about Miller and Oliver would go after him with his bow. He'd walk through fire for her, but that wouldn't solve the problem, it would just take him one step further away from getting QC back, and she couldn't let that happen, it was the only thing he had left from his parents.

Yes, she loved him and even if she knew that his "I love you" had only been an act to fool Slade, she felt that there had also been a lot of truth in those words. Slowly she drifted off to sleep.

_His hands were everywhere. She couldn't fight him, he was just too strong. "Oliver, help me, please," she cried out, but the only answer she got was distant laughter._

"_Mr. Queen, the lady asks for you," she heard Miller's voice much closer. Behind him, she could see the silhouette of a man, who was leering down at her. Oliver, the man she loved, the man she trusted…but he did nothing to help her, he just laughed at her and let Miller continue. _

"_I told you, Miller, she's the perfect personal assistant, you couldn't have found anyone better," Oliver said, laughing._

"_No, Oliver, how can you…I…I…love you and I trusted you with my life more than once. I'm doing all of this only for you. Oliiiiivvveeeerrrrr!"_

Soaked in sweat, Felicity jerked upright in her bed, unconsciously clamping her hand around her by now thoroughly black and blue wrist. She looked at her alarm clock. 5:45 am. Thank God it was time to get up anyway, she wouldn't have been able to go back to sleep anyway. In her dream Oliver, one of the few persons she trusted at all and the one person she was going through all of this for, had betrayed her. Felicity wondered, if she would ever be able to close her eyes again.

She took a cold shower to banish the thoughts from her mind and then rummaged around in her wardrobe to find something suitable to conceal her bruised wrist. A long-sleeved black blouse should do the trick, combined with a knee-length pink skirt.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks so much for all the reviews, hello to all the new follows. **

**For all the people who didn`t like my story, so sorry it`s my style to write. I can tell you there will be a big change for Felicity in this story. **

**Thank you so much Niagaraweasel, you believe in me since my first story and you translate all my stories. I don`t know what I would do without you. **

Felicity walked into the office with an even worse feeling than in the past few weeks. Her heart was beating wildly and fear rose inside her. She knew that wasn't good, fear provided much better grounds for an attack.

She walked around to her desk and found a dark haired young woman already sitting in her seat. She wore a blouse with enough buttons open to afford a good view of her cleavage, helped along by the fact that she was obviously wearing a push-up bra. Her skirt was little more than a broad belt.

"Hello, you must be Felicity. My name is Amber. Daniel has already told me a lot about you, he says you should show me the ropes," the young woman said cheerfully.

"Yes… I am Felicity. Hello Amber," Felicity answered, irritated. Before she could gather her wits, Daniel Miller called both of them into his office.

"Felicity, I have the impression lately that you are a little swamped with everything. You're doing a pretty good job, but your willingness to do something for the company after hours leaves a lot to be desired. I have heard that while Oliver Queen was here, that was a different story," the CEO started right off in a pretty harsh tone, which made Felicity's blood run cold. "This is why I will give you an assistant. She's young and dynamic and always ready and willing to work overtime without complaining. In the future, she will accompany me to meetings, until you're willing to pull your weight around here again. And now please go over the financial statements and make a list of the scheduled meetings for Amber."

"Yes, Mr. Miller," Felicity said and went back to her desk.

Looking through the glass wall of his office, she saw Amber cuddling up to the CEO, while he had his hands on her hips. This was just what he wanted, a dumb little girl he could have his way with anytime he wanted and that definitely wasn't Felicity's style. On the one hand she was grateful for Amber, as it would keep Miller off her back at least for a little while, but her presence would throw a spanner into her plan of getting the company back to its rightful owner, because Amber would constantly look over her shoulder and most probably report every wrong move immediately to Miller.

The financial reports didn't take too long, as Felicity had been going through them all night and they were perfect. So until her lunch break she had tome for further research. The last meeting had begun approximately ten minutes ago, it could take up to an hour and it was being held in one of the lower conference rooms, since it involved the IT department, giving Felicity a perfect opportunity to check the CEO's computer.

His computer was password protected, which was unusual. Oliver had never done it. It took a while for Felicity to crack it and she was surprised to find that it was a numerical code she had seen somewhere before. She noted down the numbers, determined to feed them into her decryption program later.

Felicity quickly found the most important files and copied them onto her flash drive. The files marked "private" and "bank" seemed to be the most important ones.

"I'll get you," she said to herself, rubbing her bruised wrist. It hurt to type, but she tried not to let anything show.

By the end of the meeting Felicity was at her desk again, ready to hand Miller the financial reports.

"Good to see, that I can count on you at least in this respect, even if you're rather prudish in most everything else," he said almost contemptuously.

Felicity couldn't believe her ears. The man embarrassed and humiliated her whenever possible. She had graduated from MIT at the top of her class and yet as his personal assistant she had to suffer being treated like property. With Oliver it had been completely different, he had treated her with respect and she had loved being around him.

Glancing into Miller's office, she could see that he had his hands on Amber's hips again and was staring at her cleavage. It made her feel sick until a familiar voice pulled her from her thoughts.

"Ms. Smoak, your lunch date is here."

Felicity turned around and saw not only Diggle standing in front of her desk, but Oliver as well.

"Oliver?" she squeaked in surprise.

"Not good?" Oliver asked, a little disappointed at her reaction. He had expected to be greeted with her incredible smile.

Felicity sneaked a glance at Miller; damn he had noticed her and rather roughly pushed Amber aside to leave his office. Oliver looked at Diggle, who watched Miller with an eagle eye. What was going on here? Oliver transferred his gaze to Felicity, who took a step closer to Diggle, clearly frightened.

"Mr. Queen, to what do I owe the honor of your visit? I hope you haven't come to steal away my personal assistant for your new company." Miller walked over to Felicity and wrapped his arm around her waist.

"No, Mr. Miller, that's not why I'm here. Over the years a private friendship has developed between Felicity and me, just like with Mr. Diggle." Oliver's words were carefully guarded, Felicity noted. "And now, if you'll please excuse us, I have reserved a table." Oliver held his hand out to Felicity and she immediately took it.

"It was nice to see you again, Mr. Queen. Felicity, I already told you yesterday and the same goes for today – be back on time, I need you for a meeting."

"Yes, sir, I will be on time as usual."

The silence on the way down was almost frightening, with not a single word spoken by anyone. Felicity had hoped that lunch with Diggle would be a welcome distraction. Under different circumstances she would have been glad about Oliver's presence, but he seemed to be full of questions.

When they left QC and got into Oliver's BMW, he stopped for a moment and looked around. "What the hell is going on here and I don't want to hear that everything is okay," he said in a harsh tone, glaring at Felicity, who had just opened her mouth to say something.

"Oliver, it's really noting. Miller just isn't the best boss, that's all," the blonde answered, trying to sound as neutral as possible.

"Not the best boss seems to be an understatement. Felicity, he treats you like his personal property and let's not even talk about the young lady in his office, I saw the way he pushed her away from him."

"Oliver, you must have misinterpreted that. Amber really is very clingy. Miller isn't a very good boss but something like that…."

"Felicity, I have eyes in my head, I saw Diggle's look and I saw your reaction when he came over to you, so don't take me for a fool. I don't understand why you're still working for the company anyway. You should know how important it is for me and how much losing it affected me, even if I didn't say anything. With the recommendation I wrote for you, you could have had twenty other jobs, but no, you had to stay there." Oliver angrily started the car.

"Oliver, that's enough," Diggle admonished.

Felicity was silent, staring out of the window, her eyes filling with tears. She couldn't blame Oliver, in his situation she would have reacted exactly like him. But she couldn't tell him why she did all of this, he would only get even more angry at her.

"I'm sorry, Felicity, I overreacted", Oliver apologized sheepishly.

Felicity surreptitiously wiped the tears off her face. "It's okay, after all I didn't greet you very nicely. I'm glad to see you, Oliver."

He was glad to see Felicity too, and he hadn't imagined their lunch date like this. He missed her and seeing her in his former office, with a new boss who treated her absolutely shabbily, blew all of his proverbial fuses. Who knew how much worse he treated Felicity in his office when no one was around? Oliver took a deep breath and tried to delete the images from his mind. He had an hour with the woman he loved and he wanted to enjoy it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Wish all of you a MERRY CHRISTMAS around the world. **

**Thanks for reading my story, thanks for following this story. **

**Niagaraweasel you are the best. I´m so happy that we met here. Tanks for all the awesome work you did. **

Oliver had chosen a cozy little bistro and they had gotten a table in a quiet corner. Felicity seemed to relax more and more, but Oliver couldn't get the situation out of his mind. He would ask John to find out what he could about Daniel Miller and the Arrow was sure to turn up in front of his house a couple of times.

The ex-billionaire took a closer look at the woman he loved. She looked tired, apparently she had gotten home late last night. The gala she had gone to with this creep. Oliver's thoughts circled like vultures around Daniel Miller running his hands across Felicity's body. Her clad in an incredible backless evening gown. Miller's hands touching her bare skin. Damn, he didn't want these thoughts, they only fuelled his rage again. "Excuse me for a moment," Oliver said, trying to force a smile. Diggle and Felicity looked surprised, but then they turned back to each other again.

The blonde reached out for the water bottle on the table, inadvertently revealing her bruised wrist. Diggle startled and grabbed her hand, pulling back the sleeve of her blouse, before looking at her.

"Damn it, Felicity, did he do that?" Diggle's voice all but shook with barely contained rage.

Quickly Felicity drew back her hand and covered her wrist again.

"Why didn't you tell me? Felicity, it's hard enough for me to not immediately tell the police or Oliver about this matter. I can't protect you if you don't tell me what happens. And I'm not going to watch you ruin your life. So either you are honest with me and tell me *everything* that happens or our deal is off and I'll hunt down Miller, or better yet, I'll let Oliver put an arrow in him. Do you understand?"

Felicity swallowed hard. She wasn't used to Diggle raising his voice to her, so far he had only done that to Oliver. She knew that he was worried about her and she had to admit that his worries weren't entirely unfounded.

"I'm sorry, John, I know you're right. I thought I had it all under control, but it doesn't look like it."

Diggle's look grew softer. "I definitely think so too, Felicity. Let me help you, okay? I'll pick you up after work, we'll go to dinner and you can tell me everything, okay?"

Felicity nodded. "Okay, that's a deal."

"Oliver is coming back."

The former CEO had calmed down. It had taken him five minutes to deal with the pictures that had once again flashed in his mind. He had to see to it that Felicity got herself another job. Never in his life had he imagined that it could affect him so much to see his Felicity with another man. Of course, Miller was just her boss and not her friend, but he was an asshole and he didn't treat her with the respect she deserved. On the contrary, his behavior had clearly shown that he regarded Felicity as his personal property and Oliver didn't like that at all. Felicity belonged to him and no one else. Okay, this might be the same caveman thinking Miller had, but the difference was that he treated Felicity with respect. Whenever Oliver touched her there had never been such a frightened and disgusted look in her eyes. In fact with every single touch, her eyes had shown pure lust and desire.

Oliver realized that he had neglected her in the past few weeks, but he wasn't quitter sure how to handle the situation. He had told Felicity that he loved her, but only to set a trap for Slade. The fact had caused him a number of sleepless nights. Yes, it had been her idea, but after he had spoken the words, he had seen the hope and the pain in her eyes and it had broken his heart. She had no idea how much he had meant every word, that he loved her with every fiber of his being, but he only put her in danger. Her words, that it was unthinkable that he could love her, broke his heart for the second time. How could she think so little of herself? She was everything to him, she kept him alive.

Miller left Felicity alone the whole afternoon, much too busy groping Amber, so the IT girl could take a much needed breath. At five o'clock on the dot Diggle was there to pick up his friend. Miller's eyes began to flash when he saw the tall, muscular man at Felicity's side.

"Ms. Smoak, since Amber will stay longer today so that you can go to your date, I expect you at the office an hour earlier tomorrow."

"I understand, Mr. Miller. Have a nice evening."

Felicity slowly relaxed once the elevator doors closed behind them. Diggle took a closer look at his friend; she seemed smaller and her eyes had lost their usual sparkle. She seemed distracted and frightened, making Diggle wish he could go back to the executive floor and throttle Miller himself.

"What are you in the mood for?" he asked.

"Can we go to my place and order something in?"

"Of course," Diggle answered, smiling at her.

Dusk was falling over the city and Oliver stood on the building beside QC. From this vantage point he could look straight into his old office. Miller was still there, together with the dark haired woman who had been there with Felicity today. She was sitting in Felicity's chair, typing something on the computer. Miller left his office and walked over to her. Standing behind her, his hands immediately moved to her back. Oliver's thoughts started to drift again, usually the woman he loved sat in that chair. Miller began to massage Amber's back and his head moved down to her neck. He tried to kiss her, but Amber didn't seem to like it. She started to struggle against Miller and earned herself a slap across the face, hard enough to make her fall off her chair. Miller turned away from her and Amber got up, holding a hand to her cheek.

Oliver's heart started to race, but there was nothing he could do. Miller was a bastard and Oliver would deal with him once they were alone. Right now it would create too much of a stir.

Miller came back, threw Amber's bag and coat at her and sent her away.

For a moment Oliver slumped down on the roof, pulling off his hood. Felicity had been working for this guy for the last eight weeks, if this was the way Miller treated her too….. The way Miller looked at her, the way he had touched her body, the abject fear in her eyes…. Oliver had been too busy in the last few weeks to realize how she was doing. She was quieter than usual. He had chalked that up to the matter with Slade and to their talk on the island, when the sole and simple reason must have been this bastard Miller.

Oliver had to talk to Felicity, he had to tell her the truth.


	7. Chapter 7

**New Chapter**

**Thanks for all the reviews, love to read them.**

**Niagaraweasel thanks so much for every Chapter you translate.**

They had ordered Chinese take-out and now Felicity was sitting on her couch with Diggle. The bodyguard noted that the IT girl looked more relaxed now.

"So, how are you really doing?" he asked gently, putting his food down on the table.

Felicity halfheartedly poked around in the carton with her chopsticks before putting it down. "Not good. I'm afraid, I lost my appetite and I have nightmares. Every day at the office is like running the gauntlet. I flinch when I hear his voice and I feel sick when he has his hands on my body."

Diggle drew in a sharp, hissing breath. He was boiling mad inside, but he tried to stay calm. "When did it start?"

"Four weeks ago. It started with him saying that my skirts were too long and my blouses closed too high. Then he went on to ask whether I had a friend. I saw his looks and I felt so uncomfortable, that I started to wear trousers, but he forbid that. He ordered me to wear short skirts and to pin up my hair, or I would get a reprimand. In meetings, he had organized things badly, but he blamed me for it in front of the customers, claiming that I was nothing more than a dumb little blonde."

Diggle's hands clenched into fists. He was almost afraid to ask, but she had to be honest. "Did he hit you or something like that?"

"On the day you picked me up he opened my blouse because it was buttoned too high for his taste. And on the evening of that gala, he didn't like it that an acquaintance of Oliver's talked to me. He grabbed my wrist when we were alone and told me that I belonged to him and I had no right to flirt with other men. Then he sent me home and this morning Amber was sitting there as a punishment for me."

John raked a hand through his hair. It wasn't good that Felicity kept working there, even if it was for Oliver. "Felicity, I can't cover for you any longer. Miller is a bastard and you can thank your lucky stars that so far nothing worse has happened. I have a bad feeling about this. We should tell Oliver and let him deal with Miller."

"No, John, I can't give up now, I'm so close to finding something. I searched his computer today, I just need to get through the documents. There is something there, I know it, and when Miller is busted, Oliver will get QC back."

"Do you have the files here?"

Felicity nodded and got up to fetch her Laptop and the flash drive.

"Felicity, we are going to go through those files together now. When we find something, I give you two more days, if not, we'll call Oliver and tell him everything, okay?"

"But then it was all for nothing," the blonde protested.

"Then so be it, I won't leave you in the hands of this psychopath any longer. If we find something, I'll give you two more days, if not, this ends right here, right now."

"Okay," Felicity answered meekly. She knew that he was right and that Miller was dangerous. She powered up her laptop, praying that she would find something.

"We should start with his password. It's a numeric code that I have seen somewhere before, I just can't remember where," she said, starting a special decryption program. "This could take a few hours. Meanwhile we should go through the folders I copied from his computer." Felicity typed on her keyboard, opening multiple windows.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Diggle asked.

"QC should have the same income than last month, but it was only half that amount. I'm looking for an account where the rest of it could have gone to," Felicity answered, concentrating on her work.

"Damn, these are the last two folders. There _has_ to be something here," the IT girl said desperately. She clicked on the second to last folder and flinched back. Pictures of her, Amber and Kirsten, the receptionist – during their lunch break, in the parking lot, washing their hands in the rest room – and in front of their homes."

"Oh my God…" Felicity gasped, her hands flying up to her mouth.

"The sick bastard…" Diggle cursed. He got up and grabbed his phone.

"What are you going to do?" Felicity asked when she had found her voice again.

"I'm calling Oliver. You are going to tell him everything right now and then we'll get this bastard."

"You promised me two days if we found something."

"Well, we did find something, but that's not going to help you save QC, it only shows just how important it is to get you away from that creep as quickly as possible."

A signal from Felicity's laptop interrupted their discussion and both of them looked at the monitor. The decryption program had found something.

"YES, I knew I had seen those numbers somewhere before. When I cracked Isabel's computer, she had the same password "Moscow". And that, Diggle, is no coincidence."

"What does Miller have to do with Isabel?"

"That's what I need to find out, but I think that is going to take all night. You should go home, Dig, I'm sure Lyla and Bryan are waiting for you," Felicity said, giving him a smile.

John grimaced. "I don't feel good leaving you here alone. Miller knows where you live, what if he shows up in the middle of the night?"

"Thanks, but I got along on my own the last few weeks and I'll get through tonight as well."

"Okay, but lock the door when I'm gone and check that all windows are closed too. And Felicity, remember – two days, not more." His look didn't brook any arguments.

"I know, two days and not a day longer. Now get out and go back to your family," the IT girl said, gently pushing him towards the door.

Diggle hugged her goodbye and left. Felicity closed and locked the door behind him, taking a deep breath. She admitted to herself that she felt a little shaky, but she couldn't let her fear overwhelm her.

She went back to her laptop and opened the last folder she had copied from Miller's computer.

"Gotcha! Never mess with an MIT graduate," she murmured. The folder contained transfers to a bank account that was definitely not connected to QC, but that's where last month's income had gone. It seemed to be a company account for T.W. Enterprises. Felicity had never heard that name so they had never worked with QC before.

She typed the name into a search engine, but could find absolutely nothing about it, not the slightest bit of information, but this company seemed to be the key.

Felicity took off her glasses. Her head was spinning from all the information and everything that had happened today, she needed a break. She powered down her laptop and headed to her bathroom for a hot bath, not wanting to risk another nightmare like the one from last night.

The hot water relaxed her tense muscles and let her sleep tonight without another nightmare.


	8. Chapter 8

**First Happy New Year to all of you. **

**Thanks for follow my Story and thanks for all the nice reviews.**

**Special thanks to Niagaraweasel, for translate and for all your help. **

The next morning began very early for Felicity. She was always early, but this time she and Bob, the guard, were the first to arrive at QC. Her watch showed 6:30 a.m. She had no idea if Daniel Miller really had some work for her or if this was just punishment for Diggle picking her up. When she thought of Miller, she had an even worse feeling than usual. It was bordering on outright panic after she had seen the pictures, but it would only be for two more days at most, and by that time she should have enough solid evidence against Miller.

The office was still empty. Felicity went to her desk, powered up her computer and took off her coat, before going in to Miller's office to turn on his computer as well.

"What are you doing there, Felicity?" she heard a voice behind her and felt two hands wrapping around her waist and pulling her against the man standing behind her.

"I turned on your computer for you, Mr. Miller, just like every morning. Please let go of me." Panic colored Felicity's voice and she tried to move out of his grasp.

"You smell incredible, Felicity. Every time I stand behind you and breathe in your scent, you almost drive me crazy," Miller said, his hands wandering beneath her blouse.

"Stop it, Mr. Miller, I'm sick of your little games and I will call the police. I saw the photos you took of me and other women who work here," Felicity blurted out and suddenly rammed her elbow into his stomach.

For a moment Miller pressed a hand against his stomach, angrily watching his personal assistant run out of his office. "You little bitch were at my computer," he yelled and ran after her.

It didn't take long before he had caught up with her and hit her hard in the face. Felicity's glasses flew away and her body dropped to the floor. Miller held her down with his body and started tearing off her blouse. Felicity squirmed under his weight and tried to pull every trick Diggle had ever taught her.

"I have waited very long for this moment and it has been so difficult to hold myself back," Miller gasped, his eyes crazy with lust.

The IT girl managed to free herself from his grasp and raked her nails across his face, before she managed to kick him hard between the legs, sending him tumbling to the floor. Filled with panic she ran into the stairwell, but her high heels weren't exactly made for a quick flight. On the sixth floor she stumbled and fell down the last four steps. She heard something snap and a stabbing pain shot through her body. "Ahhhhh," she cried out when she tried to pick herself up again.

"Felicity, stop, you don't stand a chance, I'll catch you anyway," Miller's voice echoed about five floors above her. Adrenalin flooded her body and gave her the strength to move again. She had to get help, but how. The IT-department in the basement….they had a safe room there that could be secured with a code – and as far as she knew that code hadn't been changed yet. With her last strength Felicity managed to open the room and hit the emergency button. Now the door could only be opened from the inside. She herself had programmed this function after she had been attacked at QC. She grabbed her phone and dialed Diggle's number with trembling fingers.

Meanwhile, Miller was outside the room, hammering on the door. "You little bitch, open this door right now. You won't report me to the police, I'll kill you first."

"Hello," Felicity could hear John's voice on the phone.

"Dig, I need your help," she sobbed into the phone. "I know you have to go to work, but Miller…." Another blow against the door made her flinch.

"Where are you?" Diggle asked firmly.

"In the IT department. Miller is outside the door."

A rush of adrenaline flooded Diggle's body. "Don't move, I'll be there in five minutes."

He hung up, grabbed his car keys and dialed Oliver's number.

"Queen," came the slightly breathless reply.

"Oliver, no matter what you're doing and where you are, you need to go to QC immediately. Felicity's in danger."

Oliver's heart began to hammer wildly, his thoughts automatically going to Miller. "Where is she?"

"I don't know exactly, she only said she's in the IT department."

"On my way."

Oliver ended the call and gathered speed to jump to the next roof. It was shortly before 7 a.m, the best time for his early morning parcour training. No one was likely to notice him on the roofs of Starling City at that time. Jumping from roof to roof and sprinting the last few meters he reached QC.

"Good morning, Mr. Queen, nice to see you here, we all miss you," Bob, the guard, greeted him.

"Thanks, Bob, I miss being here too. I'm just here to bring Ms. Smoak something."

"Okay, Mr. Queen, she's been here for half an hour already. Mr. Miller seems to be a real slave master."

Oliver's hands balled into fists. Miller wasn't only a slave master, he was a sleazy bastard as well.

Oliver ran down the stairs to the IT department, calling out to Felicity. "Felicity? FELICITY!"

"Oliver…." Felicity said softly and opened the door.

"Oliver," she called out. Oliver looked at her and his breath caught in his throat. Her blouse was torn, she had lost her shoes and there was a purple bruise on her face to match the one on her wrist.

Felicity's legs buckled. The adrenaline rush had worn off and she was so relieved that help had finally arrived.

"Hey, hey, whoa," the ex-billionaire called out, running over to her. He caught her before she could fall and gently lowered her to the floor. He took off his tracksuit top and wrapped it around her shoulders.

Footsteps in the hallway had his senses on immediate alert.

"Felicity? Oliver?" Diggle's voice could be heard and Oliver relaxed again. "Diggle, we're here."

The bodyguard came running around the corner and saw Felicity lying on the floor.

"Damn it, Felicity," he gasped.

"You need to take her home, I'll go find Miller," Oliver ordered his friend.

"Hate to disappoint you, but I saw his car leave the garage when I arrived."

Felicity started to moan, dragging them out of their conversation. Both men immediately knelt beside her and Oliver gently stroked her hair. Slowly she opened her eyes.

"Hey, good to have you back, you scared us pretty good," Oliver said, giving her a worried smile.

Felicity's eyes wandered over to Diggle. "John, I'm sorry, I didn't have a chance, he surprised me.

Oliver threw Diggle a questioning look. Did his friend know something more about the whole matter?

The blonde noticed his look and put her hand on his. "Please let's just go home, I'll explain everything there, Oliver, I promise. It wasn't Diggle's fault and he needs to go to work."

Oliver pressed his lips together and nodded silently.

Both men helped her to her feet. Felicity groaned and pressed a hand against her ribs.

"Oliver, you'd better take Felicity to _your_ home. Miller knows where she lives."

"No, that's not necessary. I just want to go home to my bed. I don't need a babysitter," Felicity tried to explain to her two worried men.

"Felicity, I don't care what you say. Okay, I will take you to your home, but no matter what I will not leave you alone." Oliver's voice brooked no argument, so Felicity didn't say another word and let herself be led to Diggle's car. They took the back exit leading directly to the underground garage. Diggle and Oliver helped Felicity get into the car, Oliver sat beside her and closed the door. Only now Felicity noted that she was wearing his tracksuit top. She pulled the zipper up all the way and sniffed. Closing her eyes, she let the familiar, unique scent of fresh sweat and aftershave surround her and lull her to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

**Wow thanks for all the nice reviews. **

**Niagaraweasel thanks for translate, thanks for being a friend, thanks for all the nice chats. **

He hated having to wake her, Felicity looked so peaceful, but Diggle couldn't be late for work. And Felicity needed a proper place to sleep.

"Felicity," Oliver said softly. "Hey, we're at your house."

Felicity groaned. She sat up slowly and suddenly blanched. "Damn, my handbag is still in the office….my keys, tablet, phone and everything…" She gave Oliver a helpless look.

Under different circumstances, Oliver would have kissed her, she looked so cute, but right now that was the last thing on his mind.

"Don't worry, we'll get it back," Oliver reassured her. He threw a glance at Diggle, who nodded. "Diggle will get it."

Felicity smiled at Diggle and tried to get out of the car. Her ribs hurt so badly that she thought she'd faint at any moment.

Oliver and Diggle supported her up to her door.

"There's a spare key under that flower pot," Felicity said, pointing to a sunflower.

"Not exactly the safest hiding place, Felicity. We need to talk about that later," Diggle said, glancing at his watch.

Oliver noticed his look. "Diggle, you should go, your boss won't like it if his chief of security is late for work. I'll take care of Felicity."

"Okay, I'll come back later and bring you your handbag. Listen to Oliver and don't dare send him away," Diggle told the blonde. She tried to give him a smile, but the pain was too bad.

Oliver opened Felicity's door and carefully helped his friend to her couch.

"Can I open your jacket?" he asked, kneeling beside her. Seeing the look of panic in her eyes, he took her hand. "Hey, I'm not going to do anything, you know that. I just want to take a look at your ribs. You're in pain, I can see it."

Oliver's gentle voice and the touch of his hand made Felicity feel safe.

Slowly she pulled down the zipper of the sweat jacket. The ex-billionaire pushed the jacket aside and gasped – Felicity's entire side was blue. Gently he ran his fingers across her skin, keeping his eyes on her face. Felicity had closed her eyes and waited for the pain, but that didn't come.

"Looks like your ribs are broken. We have to take you to the hospital and we should call Detective Lance."

Felicity's eyes flew open and she drew the jacket around her again. "No, there's no need to call Lance and I don't want to go to the hospital either."

"Felicity, I can tell that your ribs are broken, but I don't know if you have any internal injuries," Oliver looked at her seriously.

"Oliver, I'm fine…"

"No, you're not, Felicity, and I want to know what happened and then I'll take you to the hospital. End of discussion." Oliver's expression brooked no argument.

Felicity lowered her eyes to the floor and started to talk. "Miller started harassing me four weeks ago."

Oliver looked at her in shock. "WHAT? Why didn't you tell me? Why the hell didn't you quit? I gave you a list with twenty well-paid jobs, any of those companies would have been happy to get you. But no, you had to stay and let that dirty rotten pig molest you. Why the hell did you do that?"

Oliver's rage hurt her and fuelled Felicity's own anger. "Because I stayed there for YOU, so that you can get your company back."

The ex-billionaire looked at her incredulously. "What do you mean?"

Felicity took a deep breath. "Shortly before you made Isabel CEO, I squirreled away 400.000 $ from QC. I had a bad feeling about the whole matter with Slade and Isabel. Walter has invested the money for me and by now it's more than a million. I didn't take that money for myself but for you, so you wouldn't be completely pennyless if something went wrong. After the situation with Slade was over, Miller came and I stayed there so that I still had access to all documents. Miller has no idea that I used to work in the IT department, I deleted all the information. I wanted to get enough money for you to buy your way back into QC, but then I noticed that Miller seems to have something to hide. QC is missing the revenue for a whole month, although we didn't lose any customers. One thing led to another, four weeks ago Miller started harassing me, but by then I just couldn't get out any longer."

Oliver put his head in his hands. She had done all that for him. She had put herself in danger, let that bastard touch her – all to save his company.

"How could you do that?" he asked tonelessly.

"Because you've always been there for me, too," Felicity answered, a few tears trickling down her face.

He looked at her and his glassy eyes let Felicity know that he was fighting tears as well. "Felicity, no amount of money in the world is worth something happening to you. I'd rather be pennyless than lose you."

"It wasn't that bad," she said in a low voice.

He knew that she was lying. Her eyes told him." Felicity, that pig touched you. Your wrist is bruised, your ribs are broken, your blouse is torn and your lip is bloody." Oliver swallowed hard. "Did he….?" He couldn't get the rest of the question out.

"No, but he tried."

Without thinking, Oliver wrapped his arms around her. It felt so right. He would kill Mille for what he had done to her and he would see to it that something like this never happened to her again.

"I'm going to call Detective Lance now, tell him that you want to press charges against Miller and that he should come here and get your statement and then I'll take you to the hospital."

Felicity nodded. Oliver took the blanked from the armchair beside the couch and covered her with it, before he gently stroked her forehead. "Get some rest."

She closed her eyes and Oliver went into the kitchen to dial Lance's number.

"No, take your hands off me, please I don't want that. Oliver, help me, Oliver!"

Oliver ran out of the kitchen and over to Felicity. "Hey, Felicity, wake up, you're having a nightmare."

Gently he tried to push her back into the pillow so that she couldn't make her injuries worse.

_Felicity didn't notice Oliver, all she felt was Miller holding her down, but this time she couldn't fight back. She couldn't get out of his iron grip, he was just too strong for her. _

_"You want it just as much as I do, Felicity, I know, I saw your looks. The way you look at me all the time. And now we'll both get what we want so much," Miller whispered into her ear._

_"No please, don't do that to me. Oliver, where are you, help me!"_

_"Oh God no, please."_

_It just happened._

Oliver saw her struggle and he knew what it was about. The desperation with which Felicity called his name stabbed into his heart. He could picture the whole scene…. Felicity on the ground, Miller above her, tearing off her blouse and hitting her hard in the face to take from her what she'd never voluntarily give him.

In a matter of seconds, rage flooded his body. Miller must not survive. No one was allowed to treat the woman Oliver loved like this. Felicity was his light, she had a pure heart and that bastard had tried to taint that.

Felicity's whole body trembled when she shot up. Nausea roiled in her stomach. She jumped up from the couch, the stabbing pain caused by her ribs stealing her breath for a moment, but she managed to ran to the bathroom.

"Felicity?" Oliver asked, following her.

"Hey, it's alright, it was just a dream", he tried to calm her, holding back her hair.

"I couldn't do it, Oliver. In my dream I couldn't free myself. His hands were everywhere," Felicity gasped.

Goosebumps broke out all over his skin at her words. "It was only a dream, Felicity, wasn't it?"

Felicity could hear the worry in his voice. "Yes, it was only a dream, but it felt so terribly real. Oliver, I'm so terrified….." She started to cry.

Oliver pulled her into his arms. "Shhhhh…. It will be alright, Felicity. I will get this guy and I will stay with you until you're okay again."

Felicity didn't say anything, clinging to him even tighter.


	10. Chapter 10

**So happy all of you liked the last Chapter**

**Here`s the next one, read and review ;) **

**And send a warm thank you to Niagaraweasel for her awesome work (translation) THANK YOU**

Felicity felt everything happen like in a trance. She answered Lance's questions and gave him a description of her attacker, but she hardly realized it.

Lance was shocked when he heard what had happened. He looked at Oliver, who hadn't moved an inch from Felicity's side. Even if he had hated Queen for a long time for what the man had done to his daughters, he had forgiven him by now and he saw that he wasn't dealing with the same Oliver Queen from eight years ago. The man had changed and in a positive way.

After Lance had taken down all the necessary information, Oliver accompanied him to the door.

"I hate to say it, but Ms. Smoak definitely needs to go to the hospital. Even if she says that nothing more has happened between her and Miller, I need it in writing," Lance said.

Oliver tensed. "I'll make sure of that and Ms. Smoak has promised to let me take her to the hospital."

"Good, have them send the results to me. I promise you, I will get that guy." Lance's expression was as stony as Oliver's.

"Thank you," Oliver said.

Once outside Felicity's house, Lance stopped and dialed the Arrow's number.

Inside, Oliver looked at his phone and frowned. Lance had just been here, why did he call the Arrow now?

"Detective, what can I do for you?" he said, the voice modulator in the phone turning his voice into the deep Arrow growl.

"It's about your little friend. You heard what happened to her?"

"What about Felicity? She hasn't worked for me in the last couple of weeks," Oliver lied.

"She was attacked by her new boss and the guy really hurt her. His name is Daniel Miller. As soon as I know more, I'll call you."

"How is she? And what do you want me to do?"

"She isn't doing too well, but she has someone to take care of her. I want you to help me find him. I think you owe it to Ms Smoak after everything she did for you."

"Believe me, Detective, I know exactly how much Ms Smoak has risked for me and I _will_ get Miller. Send me all the information." Oliver ended the call and went back into the living room. Felicity was still huddled on her couch, wrapped in her blanket and staring blindly off into nothing. She only reacted when Oliver knelt in front of her.

"Hey, it's time to take you to the hospital," he said, gently taking her hand.

Felicity nodded and stood up slowly. "I'll just go and change."

"Okay, I'll wait here for you."

Oliver looked after her with a worried frown. Felicity had dealt with Count Vertigo, Tockman and Slade without complaint, but this here was different. She seemed broken and he had no idea how to help her. Never in his life had Oliver felt so damn helpless. Even if he caught Miller – and he definitely would, come hell or high water – it wouldn't change the fact that Felicity was deeply traumatized.

"Oliver," Felicity called from her bedroom.

With a feeling of panic, Oliver immediately went to her. "Everything okay?"

"Yes, I'm okay, I just need help with my shirt, I can't put it on alone," Felicity answered tonelessly.

Oliver went over to her and helped her pull the T-shirt over her head. His fingers touched her head and Oliver felt a stab of fear when she flinched. She had never reacted to his touch like that before.

"Hey, it's just me," he said soothingly, cupping her face in his hands. Felicity lowered her eyes to the floor, ashamed of her reaction. "Look at me, Felicity. I will _never_ hurt you, you hear? And I will stay with you until Miller is safely behind bars.

"I know, Oliver. I'm sorry…. it's the dream, I already had it before Miller attacked me. I….." Her eyes filled with tears.

"It was only a dream and no matter what it was about, I'll never let anyone hurt you. Never." Oliver put his arms around her and this time she didn't flinch.

Lance had already called ahead and informed the hospital that Oliver and Felicity were coming, so they didn't have to wait.

"Ms. Smoak, I'm Dr. Vargas. Detective Lance has already informed us. I'm really sorry for what happened to you."

Felicity looked at the female doctor and tried to give her a smile. "Thanks, Dr. Vargas. I'm okay, I was lucky that nothing worse happened."

Dr. Vargas gave her worried look. "Thank God, Ms. Smoak. Mr. Queen, I have to ask you to wait here now, please."

Oliver nodded and looked at Felicity. "I'll wait right here for you. Don't be afraid, if you need me, just call for me."

Felicity followed the doctor into the examination room. Oliver slumped into a chair. He felt bone-tired and exhausted. The last time he had felt like that was after the death of Tommy and of his mother. Suddenly his phone rang.

"Oliver, we have a problem," Diggle said.

"What happened, John?"

"I'm at QC and I found Felicity's handbag, but her keys are missing."

Oliver swallowed hard. "Damn…. is Miller there?"

"Believe me, if Miller were here, I'd have already taken him apart. He hasn't shown up all day. I asked Lyla to use her ARGUS contacts, but no success. Miller isn't at his house and his car didn't show up on any traffic cams. Looks like he fell off the end of the earth."

"Damn," Oliver cursed again, slamming his fist against his thigh. "We need new locks."

"I already tried, but no chance before tomorrow morning," Diggle said.

"Can you come by later and stay with Felicity for a few hours?"

"Of course, I've already told Lyla. How is Felicity?"

"She tries to downplay the matter, but she's in pretty bad shape. She flinches, when I touch her, and she has nightmares. Diggle, I'm worried about her. I have already lost two people I love, I don't want to lose her too."

"Oliver, we'll find that creep, I promise."

"Yes, we will," Oliver answered, his voice hard.

"There is something else…."

"What is it?" Oliver could hear the worry in his friend's voice.

"The surveillance cams have recorded everything."

Oliver closed his eyes for a moment." Bring them with you, maybe we'll find something."

"Oliver, I think you'd better not watch those tapes," the bodyguard cautioned.

"Bring them," Oliver answered tensely.

The door to the examination room opened and Oliver looked up at Dr. Vargas. "Diggle, I have to go, we'll meet at Felicity's house." Without waiting for his friend's reply, Oliver ended the call.

"How is Ms. Smoak?"

"She told me, you'd look after her for the next few days, so I can tell you. She has a couple of broken ribs and a large number of bruises. Nothing that won't mend in a few weeks."

Oliver took a relieved breath.

"But I'm worried about her mental state. Ms. Smoak is traumatized, even if she won't admit it. She needs a friend she can talk to and who will make her feel safe. I know that it's hard for friends and family, when the victims start to talk about what happened to them, but it's important that you stay calm and give her a feeling of security."

"Don't worry, I will. Is there anything else?"

"No physical exertion, because of her ribs."

"Can I see her?"

"Yes, Mr. Queen and you can take her home as well," the doctor answered, shaking Oliver's hand.

The ex-CEO entered the room and found Felicity trying to put her shirt back on, but she was moaning in pain. Oliver went over to her and looked at her softly. "Hey, let me help you."

The blonde nodded and accepted his help. "I just want to go home, Oliver," she said, looking at him with red-rimmed, tired eyes."

Oliver gently caressed her cheek. "Don't worry, I'll take you home."

Felicity carefully stood up and leaned heavily against Oliver, not really strong enough to walk on her own. Oliver gently placed an arm around her to support her.


	11. Chapter 11

**Wow thanks for all the awesome reviews I´m so happy happy happy happy.**

**Here´s the next Chapter**

**And thanks again again and again Niagaraweasel for your AWESOME work, for all your help, for the nice chats and everything. So happy we met on **

Oliver sat on Felicity's couch with a glass of red wine. He would have preferred something stronger, but Felicity didn't have anything else. She had fallen asleep in his arms, her small body pressed against his so tight that he found it difficult to extricate himself. Not that he wanted to, he had wished for a moment like that far too often, but not under these circumstances. And Diggle would be here soon with the video tape.

Oliver was afraid of watching the tape but he just had to do it. Lance had him so confused with his comments regarding a possible rape that he needed to see for himself that that hadn't happened. But he knew that whatever that tape showed, it would follow him into his dreams.

A knock on the door jolted Oliver out of this thoughts and he went to answer it.

"Everything okay?" Diggle asked his friend insistently.

"Yes, everything is okay. Felicity has fallen asleep."

"What did the doc say?"

"She's not allowed to lift anything, she needs rest and someone around her she trusts." Oliver sat back down on the couch. "Diggle, I have never seen her so frightened and panicked. Why did she do that?"

The bodyguard sat down beside his friend. "Because she loves you."

Oliver buried his face in his hands. "But that's not worth it. No money and no firm is worth that."

"That's what I told her, too, but you know her."

"Do you have the tape?"

Diggle took a deep breath. "Oliver, you shouldn't watch that."

"I have to know what happened exactly and look for clues."

"Felicity is like a sister to me and that video really got to me. You love her and those picture will burn themselves into your soul."

"Diggle, I have to know what happened. Lance hinted at something…. Please start the video."

"Okay, but I did warn you." Diggle started the tablet.

The recording showed Felicity powering up Miller's computer and that Miller had come up to her from behind. The blonde flinched under his touch and Oliver's heart started to race. Felicity tried to fight back and was successful, she ran out of Miller's office but caught up with her pretty fast and hit her in the face hard enough to send her to the ground. Diggle watched his friend – Oliver's expression was serious, his hands gripped the tablet tighter than necessary and his breathing was becoming increasingly erratic.

"Oliver, don't do this to yourself, " Diggle cautioned and paused the recording.

The Ex-billionaire closed his eyes for a moment. "I can deal with it, Digg, okay?"

"If you say so…." Diggle started the video again.

Felicity lay on the ground, Miller sat on top of her, restraining her arms. With tears in her eyes, the blonde squirmed under the attacks of her boss, but Miller tore open her blouse. Felicity fought back and managed to free herself. She scratched him and managed to land a kick to his private parts. Not looking back, she ran over to the stairwell. The camera perspective changed, showing Felicity running down the stairs until she stumbled suddenly. Okay, that fall explained the broken ribs. Oliver stared at the screen and saw that for a moment Felicity didn't move, and when she raised her head again, Oliver's blood froze. Her eyes were so full of fear and pain…. Oliver's eyes filled with tears at the sight. On screen Felicity stood up and hurried down the steps again, pain clearly evident on her face.

"That's all," Diggle said and took the tablet back.

Oliver took a deep breath and stood up. "There's something I need to do, please stay with Felicity," was all he said before he left.

Oliver climbed onto his Streetfighter and drove over to his house, where he grabbed his bow and changed into the green Arrowoutfit.

He had to catch Miller, he couldn't let him get away with something like that. The images of Felicity falling to the floor after Miller had hit her in the face still flashed before Oliver's eyes. The abject terror in her eyes at whatever he had said to her. Good thing the recording had been without sound, the pictures alone had been almost more than he could bear, hearing the panic in Felicity's voice would have been the death of him. Oliver reacted very sensitively to everything to do with Felicity, especially since he had already lost so many people. He just couldn't lose another person, especially not this woman. She was the one who made him smile.

Miller's house was dark. Oliver carefully opened the balcony door on the second floor. For a CEO who _wasn't_ a billionaire, Miller lived very well. Oliver looked cautiously looked around, but the house seemed to be empty. Where the hell was that bastard hiding? Bow drawn, Oliver silently went from room to room. The last door led to Miller's bedroom, and Oliver's breath caught in his throat, when he opened the door.

"Oh my God," he whispered to himself, lowering the bow as he entered the room. Hundreds of pictures were plastered all over the room – all of them of Felicity. Oliver couldn't make out the details, since the only light in the room came from a streetlamp outside. He hurried over to the window and pulled the heavy curtains shut, before he switched on the lamp on the nightstand. The walls were covered with pictures of Felicity – shopping, at work, opening her front door, getting into her car….some even showed her going to bed. This bastard had been watching her for a long time, but why had he chosen her? Beside the pictures were little post-it notes. "I love you, you're mine, I will destroy your friend," was on a note beside a picture showing Oliver and Felicity coming out of Big Belly Burger. Oliver remembered the day, it had been last summer, half a year ago. Miller had planned everything, which meant that Slade and Isabel must have helped him.

Oliver switched off the light and left the house. He needed Felicity and John, maybe there was evidence on his computer, that could link Miller to Slade and Isabel.

Silently the Arrow left the house and returned to his own, changing back and putting the green leather outfit into a bag, before he climbed onto his Streetfighter again and went back to Felicity's house.

Diggle opened the door and signaled Oliver to be quiet.

"Is she still sleeping?"

"She had a nightmare and was calling for you, but now she's asleep again," Diggle answered.

"We need to wake her up and take her with us to Miller's house," Oliver said.

"What?"

"Miller has covered his whole bedroom with pictures of Felicity, going back half a year. I'm sure Slade and Isabel had something to do with it, but to prove that we need to get at his computer," Oliver explained.

Diggle nodded. "And that's what we need Felicity for."

Oliver held his friend back. "I'll do that."

Silently the ex-billionaire entered Felicity's bedroom. The blonde looked like an angel, curled up in her bed. Oliver felt bad having to wake her, she looked so peaceful. Gently he pushed a strand of hair out of her face. "Mmmmmmhhhh…" Felicity grumbled softly and opened her eyes.

"Hey," Oliver said, smiling at her.

"Oliver…" Felicity immediately sat up in bed, pressing a hand against her aching ribs. "What happened?"

"Hey, hey, not so fast. Everything is okay, but I need your help."

"What happened?"

"I was in Miller's house and found out that he has been watching you for a long time. I think he's in league with Slade and Isabel."

Felicity looked at him wide-eyed. "Isabel, it was Isabel."

"What do you mean?"

"Moscow, the password for Miller's computer. I didn't know where I had come across it before but now I remember, it was when I hacked Isabel's computer."

"We need to search Miller's private computer for information and I need your help for that."

Felicity gulped. She didn't want to go anywhere near Miller or his house, but she had no other choice and she trusted Oliver.

"Okay."

Oliver noticed her frightened look and took her chin. "Hey, I will protect you, he won't do anything to you."

Felicity let herself fall into Oliver's arms. Oliver hesitated for a moment, but then he wrapped his arms around her. "We'll get through this and I will stay with you until Miller is out of the way and you're not afraid anymore."


End file.
